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From: cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Rebuttal time
Message-ID: <123950@sun.Eng.Sun.COM>
Date: 30 Aug 89 00:02:14 GMT
References: <8908252144.AA27005@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Sender: news@sun.Eng.Sun.COM
Reply-To: cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 47

In article <8908252144.AA27005@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> (Greg Csullog) writes:
> However, is this REALLY the key factor in having a multitasking system? 
> Surely not! In eight years of using micros (HP, PC, DEC, ST, Mac) I 
> cannot recall more than 5 or 6 times I had to format a floppy while 
> running an application ...

What this statement essentially says is that you have no relevant experience
to relate to the issues. Nothing personal but unless you are talking about
the HP2100 or the Dec PDP 11, none of the systems you have had experience
with supports multitasking with it's native OS. 

Why can't someone just pipe up and say "I'm using a _window system based_
multitasking OS right now, and I a) don't like it, or b) am not using it
as one nor do I ever use it as one."

The keys are that you have to have a _window based_ UI because single
interface terminal UI's are generally not flexible enough for effective
use of multitasking and there has to be other programs that _know_ your
OS is multitasking so that they can take advantage of it if they choose
to. These two requirements eliminate every single "micro" (except the
Amiga) from the test. I could go into why these two requirements are
so important for a proper test, but that would just add to the noise I
suspect. 

Ok, so we've heard from the Amiga users who say (paraphrased) :
	"Multitasking is great, your full of Bat Guano if you don't
	 agree."

And we've heard from ST/PC/Mac users who have said (paraphrased) :
	"I don't need no stinking multitasking, it's about as useful
	 as jet engines on a baby carriage."

Lets see if we can find those silent individuals who can present the
opposing cases. These would be the Amiga user who is saying :
	"This multitasking stinks, every time I turn around it has
	 made my life miserable."

and the ST/Mac/PC user who is saying :
	"You know, if only I had a multitasking OS, this is what 
	 I could accomplish."


Thanks for listening,
--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: cmcmanis  ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
"If I were driving a Macintosh, I'd have to stop before I could turn the wheel."